children – Page 30 – Home's Cool!

Another Abundance

Posted on March 1, 2011March 1, 2011 by Katharine

We have plenty of these little golden guys out already, too.

Dandelions are not daffodils, but children do not know or care. In their innocence or ignorance, they cherish dandelions.

I did. Didn’t you?

Moms know, however, that for all their cheer and good smell, dandelions do not make good cut flowers. They wilt and close up. Once I even had one re-open while living in a vase, and put forth seeds.

Ah, yes. The seeds. They do put them forth. And children, again, in their innocence, hardly dream we frown on the glorious fun of blowing seeds all over the yard.

But we do.

It’s not that we don’t like dandelions, but that they are not grass. Don’t we change as we mature! Suddenly we realize the great fragrance of the dandelion hides amazing skill at infiltrating.

So what is the lesson, here? I think we can say God made Mom and Dad older than the children for a good reason. He put children into homes for a good reason. He told children to honor their parents for a good reason.

That good reason is: the preservation and teaching of the children. Parents teach the children that not all that glitters is gold. We teach them that not every good smelling thing is good, on closer inspection.

If we are diligent, if we can remember all we know and teach it, our children will turn out better than we did.

That’s a promise.

Believe it or not!, Home School, Pre-schoolers, Who's the mom here?

6-Year-Old Hauled to Psych Ward Despite Parent’s Wishes

Posted on February 23, 2011February 22, 2011 by Katharine

Last week, a school in Los Angeles sent a little boy to a psychiatric ward without his mother’s leave. Why? Worrying about the fact that his dad had been deployed to Iraq, the boy had drawn a violent picture and had written that he wanted to die, which caused the school to manifest this knee-jerk reaction.

The mother told school staff she would take her son to a therapist, but she was told it was (conveniently!) too late – the ambulance had already been sent.

This six-year-old child spent two solid days in a place foreign to him before anyone would let his mother have him back. Of course, this only further traumatized the poor child, as if the trauma of seeing his daddy leave for overseas combat were not enough.

ParentalRights.org president Michael Farris states, “Clearly, giving school and other government officials complete control in these kinds of situations goes too far.”

The proposed Parental Rights Amendment to the U.S. Constitution would affirm that “[t]he liberty of parents to direct the upbringing and education of their children is a fundamental right,” and would help defuse such situations as above.

Please pass this post to others you know who might find such atrocity terrifying, and urge them to visit parentalrights.org/petition

Believe it or not!, Good ol' days, Home School, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom

The Last of the Unsupported Homeschoolers

Posted on February 18, 2011April 21, 2015 by Katharine

We were homeschoolers when homeschool wasn’t cool.

We had no support because there was no such thing as a homeschool support group.

We started about the same time as Home School Legal Defense Association started, but they and we did not know about each other, so we also had no legal support.

Internet was only a child, then, and had not maximized its potential to help homeschoolers. Computers had no practical applications in home schools.

All, all the curriculum available to us was published for collective schools and some publishers refused to sell to home educators.

Back in these very good, old days, only the driven, committed, principled, loyal, persevering, stubborn, maverick, determined, motivated, obsessed, dedicated, devoted, steadfast, unswerving, faithful, home educating parents survived. We had somewhat of a reputation for being a pain, especially among status-quo legislators.

Many of us could relate to the Washington/Jefferson/Adams triumvirate, always questioned by those around us and always questioning ourselves, testing ourselves, proving ourselves.

Always hunted and attacked by the government that claimed to protect us.

Always in semi-hiding.

Always ready with an escape plan.

Always losing money on this project.

Always making do with do-by-self.

We faced obstacles, penalties, hindrances, impediments, barriers, hurdles, deterrents, limitations, and interference.

We were hated.

We were arrested.

I guess it’s the American way.

Now that home educating is the bright star that it has become, and we have retired after a quarter century of it, people want our opinions.

What curriculum do I think is best? Pick one you like and get busy.
What is my child’s learning style? Lazy and stubborn. What about yours?
Do I homeschool during summer? All parents homeschool at all times.
Do I think you’re harming your child? Probably, but better you, than someone who doesn’t care.
What do I do about socialization? I talk to my child; I teach my child; I read to my child.
What about computers? Teach your children to read, spell, write legibly, and type, and to love English, first, in that order. No computers allowed until high school and no Internet until the last half of the senior year.

Does all that sound harsh to you?

Does it sound grumpy?

You will not get a marshmallow answer from a homeschool-callused person.

We did not plant our homeschool garden with a tractor, but with a shovel and a hoe.

We did not have curriculum choice unless we wrote the curriculum, so we did.

I beg you, for your own and your children’s sakes, pick one you like and get busy.

Believe it or not!, Homemaking

Six Steps to CFL Safety

Posted on February 15, 2011March 28, 2015 by Katharine

Have you ever broken one of the new twisty light bulbs? You know, the ones that cost so much you hate to break one? It is so easy to do because the glass is so delicate.

I don’t have any of those in my house because when real light bulbs started to become scarce, I bought up a bunch of them. Then, when folks began to squawk and they started making real ones over again, I bought a bunch more.

But I don’t mind using sunlight or oil lamps or candles–not at all.

those blinkin’ lights!

The main reason I will not install a fluorescent light in my house is that they blink.

Blinking light decreases your attention span and slows your reading. Think of them as a sort of “light pollution”, as are TVs and computer screens. They effect the ability to think. For some people, especially young children, this effect is drastic, shutting down straight-line thinking almost completely. No child should study under a fluorescent.

So, as a source of light in a homeschooling home, they are a failure, in the first place. The rooms in our house with long-bulb fluorescents installed by the builder were never used for children doing schoolwork. In fact, one of my children asked not to use that room, which woke me up to the real problems inherent here. (I had not been noticing, but he had.)

caution! poison!

The other reason is their toxicity. The bulbs contain powdered mercury, which can kill. Add to it the fact that these light bulbs are extremely easy to break–far easier than the old enormous tubes–and you have a recipe for disaster, something that definitely should be labeled “keep out of child reach”.

now for the safety rules:

If you have one, though, you must memorize a long list of protocol for how to survive the experience of breaking one, with your health intact. If you want, why not print this list and post inside your broom closet? Here is what you have to do and why:

Most important: open a window for at least 15 minutes before beginning cleanup. The bulbs contain powdered mercury, which is extremely toxic, and we must not breathe it. Mercury poisoning can kill. Opening the windows is essential to safety, even during rain or cold weather. (Who knows what it does for the birds and butterflies?)
Do NOT handle the pieces with bare hands; wear disposable rubber or latex gloves. A cut from glass coated with this fine powder would also poison.
Place the pieces into a plastic bag, and then into another one, and use duct tape to pick up the tiny fragments. A paper bag could allow fine particles of mercury to escape.
Wipe the area clean with damp paper towel and place the towels in the bag, too. Damp toweling would most safely collect the finest particles, which might even be invisible but would probably cling to the damp towel.
If the bulb broke over carpet, you’ll have to vacuum the carpet, but you must immediately remove the vacuum bag (or empty and wash or wipe out the canister) and put the vacuum bag in with the other CFL trash.
Vacuuming is the only way to remove most of the fine mercury particles and remaining glass hazards from carpet (there is no way to remove all the mercury), but it is totally unsafe to breathe in the same room while you do so. Go outdoors to take deep breaths and then hold your breath, enter, and vacuum until you need to breathe again. Repeat. Vacuuming would be foolhardy on hard surfaces, and could easily spread the dust more, if using a multi-surface upright.
You also must not breathe while emptying the bag and wiping out the canister. Also, you should wipe out the insides of your vacuum even if you do have a bag to throw away. Of course, you should shower and shampoo thoroughly, afterwards. You probably should also immediately launder the clothing you are wearing, in a separate wash load and machine dry them, taking precautions that the dryer does not vent near any pets, children’s play areas, or edible plant materials.
Check with your trash company or recycling center for specific disposal directions. Usually, fluorescent bulbs can be put in the trash or taken to the dump if your state and local regulations allow, but please call your trash or recycling company. Do not ask them about your broken CFL; ask them about mercury toxic waste disposal or about recycling mercury. Few people, even professionals, make this connection, otherwise. If you receive permission to throw away your CFL, please label it clearly to avoid accidentally poisoning the trash pickup personnel.

There you have it: why I don’t use CFL’s and what to do if you do use them.

Have fun.

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Who's the mom here?, Wisdom, Wives, Womanhood

The Boundary Around My Pond

Posted on February 8, 2011November 13, 2015 by Katharine

Another view of the pond — Another view of the icy pond

Boundaries are wonderful. Without them we could not have ponds. No ponds, no fish. Yes, we like boundaries. I think the fish do, too.

One boundary we think we don’t welcome is the womb. Wombs are wonderful. Without them we could not have babies. I think the babies like them, too.

But we ignore what we know is true and we violate that quiet, safe place for our growing babies, every day. Over 3000 times per day. It is impossible to violate our own bodies and our children’s lives the way we do, and still feel human.

Look at this:

In Pennsylvania, they’ve found a physician/abortionist who has made a profession and a large fortune from violating the boundaries of our wombs. How did he do it? By accepting payment in cash, not reporting his earnings, storing his money at home instead of in a bank, not disposing of bio-hazards, not sterilizing equipment, not providing gowns for patients, and barely paying staff.

Oh, and he sold drugs on the side. Cash, only, please.

More than half the people who went into his “clinic” died. You know, all the babies died, and several of the moms, too. It was just like the good ol’ days, minus the coat hanger. “Safe and rare”, my foot.

The only good thing about it, if it can be called good, is the wording the Philadelphia reporter, Stephanie Farr, used as she wrote her detailed report about Dr. Gosnell’s goings on:

“How many severed baby spines does it take to pay for a $984,000 shore house? How many severed infant feet is a boat worth?”

I am glad she said it that way. I don’t know how she had the nerve to write this truth in such big newspaper, nor how she got by with it, but there it was, on the Internet, for all to see. For all to think about. For all to try to grasp.

Not only does abortion mistreat women; it mistreats babies, violates wombs, ignores boundaries.

And it can turn us into monsters.

Blessings of Habit, Husbands, Inspiring, Pre-schoolers, Wisdom, Wives

About Dating

Posted on February 3, 2011February 3, 2011 by Katharine

Humans have been practicing dating on a large scale for around, 50 to 75 years. Before that, no one dated. Some snuck out, but that was sneaking out; it wasn’t dating.

The very idea of two unmarried people spending any time together, alone, was unthinkable to most people, once upon a time.

Why? At least for three reasons.

Of course, the obvious reason most people think of is the unwed pregnancy, illegitimate child, and ensuing ruined lives. It may be hard for some to believe, but when parents and legislators guarded a young woman so closely back then, it was for her benefit as much as anything.
Political reasons also factored in; not national politics like we think of these days, but human politics of the family, the estate, the wills, etc. Marriage strengthens families, and thereby, communities, cities, and countries. The foolishness displayed through the ins and outs of the dating mess weakens us all. People and families who desire to get somewhere choose marriage and its strengths, not foolishness.
Religion forbade it. We cannot really blame Christianity because all religions have strict rules requiring single-mindedness about marriage and deterring the weakness inherent in youthful foolishness. Even someone who would boast of being the most irreligious, and who had a “special friend”, would call it cheating if that friend stepped out on him. That’s because the whole idea is universal.

And there was a time, not so long ago, when all people heeded this universal idea, whether they liked it or not. While there always have been a few out-of-wedlock babies, they were few, just enough to soften the blow of infertility for other people. And people hid the trouble as much as possible. And they were regretful.

Why is marriage universal?

A better question might be, why did God build this program into all people? It is because His Son is a Bridegroom, waiting for a pure bride.

Wisdom

Are You Afraid?

Posted on February 2, 2011March 14, 2014 by Katharine

Cat watching birds (Photo credit: rarvesen)

We had another cat, once. It was fond of hunting and spent long days away, causing us to never-mind when it was gone. We reasoned that the Ma cat was teaching it to hunt and it came and went when she did. The Ma cat often spent time away, was not altogether tame, in fact.

We always called this cat “the other cat” because it so resembled Black Jack that we had trouble telling them apart. It was not Black Jack, though, did not have Jack’s and Earl’s hilarious dominance gene.

The Other Cat always held back, if there was a tussle for the food dish. It usually did not prefer petting and seemed somewhat afraid of touch, in general. It ate and hung around with its siblings, but was the odd man out and didn’t seem to care.

I’ve known people like this, too. With people, long ago, we used the term “wallflower”, indicating the loner, the shy one who held back. I remember a classmate who hung around like The Other Cat. Her short hair had transformed nearly into a helmet with hairspray. She wore beige makeup all over her face, including beige lipstick, and didn’t wipe the excess off her eyebrows, which made her face pale and featureless, as if she were about to pass out. Like many popular girls, she sewed her own clothes, but they were—I don’t know—somehow blank-looking. Maybe color hurt her eyes, or something. She probably bathed every Saturday, but she often glistened with the need for a midweek dunking.

She never arrived first and always took the leftover seat. She never spoke much—only if called upon in class. She offered correct but lifeless answers, parroting the textbook but seeming unable to think aloud. When, at the bell, others bolted with gusto from the classroom, she gathered books with limp hands and slipped out onto the fringes of the hallway melee.

No one flattened her, which, now that I think about it, amazes me. Yet, this, too, adds to her persona: A collision, at least, would have proved she existed.

No one took offense at her. Sometimes the kind girls reached out to her, but no one kept it up. Her wan smiles hardly rewarded us enough and we were too young and untrained to care deeply. Boys would walk around her, embarrassed to make eye contact, but never insinuating the ridiculous remarks they saved for targeted girls.

I wonder about her, now. Now that I care about the downtrodden, now that I invest time to draw women out of themselves, I wonder about her home life. Did her parents encourage her? Did they abuse her?

She was absent from our 40^th reunion . . .